Breakout session assignment by device affiliation

ABSTRACT

Presented herein are techniques in which a device connects a plurality of user devices to a communication session in which a plurality of participants of the respective plurality of user devices communicate using audio and/or video and determines respective locations of the plurality of user devices. The devices receives, from a particular user device of the plurality of user devices, a request to group the user devices into a plurality of groups to form one or more breakout communication sessions off of the communication session, assigns user devices to respective ones of the plurality of groups based on the respective locations such that user devices at a common location are assigned to a same group, and transmits information identifying the plurality of groups to the particular user device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to online meeting breakout sessions.

BACKGROUND

Breakout sessions or breakout rooms are now popular in online meetings.A meeting host or cohost can create breakout sessions from a mainmeeting and assign participants of the main meeting to differentbreakout sessions. This assignment can be manual or automatic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system configured to provide acommunication session among a plurality of participants and for whichbreakout session group assignment may be performed, according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting a method for transmitting locationinformation for user devices based on device affiliation detection fordetermining breakout session groups, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting a method for performing polling todetermine a delegate device, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting a method for transmitting background noisecharacteristics useful for determining breakout session groups,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting a method for transmitting detectedshort-range wireless system identifiers for determining breakout sessiongroups, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for determininglocation-based breakout session groups, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a hardware block diagram of a computer device that may beconfigured to perform the user device based operations involved inestablishing location-based breakout sessions, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 8 is a hardware diagram of a computer device that may be configuredto perform the meeting server operations involved in establishinglocation-based breakout sessions, according to an example embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Overview

Presented herein are systems and methods for automatically suggestingphysical location-based breakout session assignments for onlinemeetings. The methods involve connecting a plurality of user devices toa communication session in which a plurality of participants of therespective user devices communicate using audio and/or video anddetermining respective locations of the plurality of user devices. Themethods further involve receiving, from a particular user device of theplurality of user devices, a request to group the user devices into aplurality of groups to form one or more breakout sessions off thecommunication session, assigning user devices to respective ones of theplurality of groups based on the respective locations such that userdevices at a common location are assigned to a same group, andtransmitting information identifying the plurality of groups to theparticular user device.

Example Embodiments

In an online meeting space environment, participants and/or users (theseterms are used interchangeably throughout the description) areparticipating via their respective devices that may be geographicallyremote from each other. The participant and the respective user (client)device, such as a computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, etc., maycollectively be referred to as endpoints, user devices, or devices. Thedevices may communicate with each other via one or more networks such asthe Internet.

Some of the devices may have video capabilities in a communicationsession. Video capabilities may include, but are not limited to, livefeed of a respective participant on a user interface screen. Otherdevices may not have video capabilities in the communication session andmay only have audio capabilities. Further, some of the devices may haveinteractive connectivity to manipulate content on the user interfacescreen and other devices may have view-only capability to be able onlyto view content during the collaboration session. These are just someexamples and are not provided by way of a limitation.

Reference is first made to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of asystem 100 that is configured to provide online meeting services thatinclude services for recommending breakout or child sessions for onlinemeetings. The system 100 includes one or more meeting server(s) 110 anda plurality of user devices 120-1 to 120-N that communicate with meetingserver(s) 110 via one or more networks 130. The meeting server(s) 110are configured to provide an online meeting service for hosting acommunication session among user devices 120-1 to 120-N and forrecommending groups of the user devices 120-1 to 120-N for conductingbreakout or child sessions of the communication session. The userdevices 120-1 to 120-N may be tablets, laptop computers, desktopcomputers, Smartphones, virtual desktop clients, or any user device nowknown or hereinafter developed that can run a meeting client or similarcommunication functionality. The user devices 120-1 to 120-N may have adedicated physical keyboard or touch-screen capabilities to provide avirtual on-screen keyboard to enter text. The network(s) 130 may includewired local and wide-area networks as well as wireless local andwide-area networks. The user devices 120-1 to 120-N may also haveshort-range wireless system connectivity (such as Bluetooth™ wirelesssystem capability, ultrasound communication capability, etc.) to enablelocal wireless connectivity with a videoconference endpoint in a meetingroom or with other user devices in the same meeting room.

Groups of user devices 120-1 to 120-N may be located in commonenvironments 150-1 to 150-N. An environment 150-1 to 15-N may be a room,such as a conference room, in which the users have gathered forparticipating in an online meeting. As shown in FIG. 1, user devices120-1 and 120-2 are located in environment 150-1 and user devices 120-3to 120-N are located in environment 150-N. Environment 150-1 includes avideoconference endpoint 140. As shown in FIG. 1, user devices 120-1 and120-2 are in an environment 150-1 that includes the videoconferenceendpoint 140 and may be connected to or associated with (“paired” to)the videoconference endpoint 140 for participating in the online meetingor communication session. Each user device 120-1 to 120-N providesinformation regarding a location of the user device to meeting server(s)110 so that the user devices may be grouped based on location. If a userdevice is located in an environment, such as environment 150-1 thatincludes a videoconference endpoint 140, the location information mayinclude information associated with the videoconference endpoint 140.That is, the location of user devices 120-1 and 120-2 may be derivedbased on their association to the videoconference endpoint 140 which isat a location known to the meeting server(s) 110. If the user device isnot located in an environment that includes a videoconference endpoint,such as is the case for environment 150-2, the location of a user devicemay include information associated with another user device in theenvironment that is acting as a delegate device. The locationinformation may additionally or alternatively include or be derived frombackground noise characteristics, short-range wireless systemidentifiers (such as a Bluetooth™ wireless system) of neighboring userdevices, facial and/or voiceprint information, and/or geo-locationinformation input by a user.

At a high level, these techniques presented herein involve forminggroups of user devices that are participating in an online meeting orcommunication session based on a common location of the user devices toform location-based breakout sessions or child sessions of thecommunication session. In other words, the locations of user devices areused to inform the assignment of user devices to breakout sessions suchthat user devices at the same location are assigned to the same breakoutsession.

Reference in now made to FIG. 2, with continued reference to FIG. 1.FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting a method 200 for transmitting locationinformation for user devices based on device affiliation detection,according to an example embodiment. The method 200 may be performed byone of the user devices 120-1 to 120-N or a videoconference endpoint 140of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 depicts environments 150-1 to 150-4. In the example shown in FIG.2, environment 150-1 is a room (Videoconferencing (VC) Room SJ1) in SanJose that includes videoconference endpoint 140-1 and three users (Alex,Bob, and Charlie). Environment 150-2 is a room (VC Room LN1) in Londonthat includes videoconference endpoint 140-2 and four users (David,Evan, Frank, and Garry). Environment 150-3 is a room (Room LN2) inLondon that includes four users (Henry, Ivan, Jack, and Kathy) and novideoconference endpoint. Environment 150-4 is a room (Room SH1) inShanghai that includes four users (Larry, Mike, Nick, and Oliver) and novideoconference endpoint. All users in environments 150-1 to 150-4 areparticipants in an online meeting.

In environment 150-1, Alex, Bob, and Charlie join the meeting with theiruser devices connected to or associated with videoconference endpoint140-1. In environment 150-2, David, Evan, Frank, and Garry join themeeting with their user devices connected to or associated withvideoconference endpoint 140-2. In environment 150-3, Henry, Ivan, Jack,and Kathy join the meeting from Room LN2 in London, but their userdevices are not associated with a videoconference endpoint because thereis no videoconference endpoint located in the room. Similarly, inenvironment 150-4, Larry, Mike, Nick, and Oliver join the meeting fromRoom SH1 in Shanghai, but their user devices are not associated with avideoconference endpoint.

A host or cohost of the online meeting or communication session mayrequest that breakout sessions of the communication session be createdfor the meeting. Creating a breakout session may include dividing themeeting participants into smaller groups of meeting participants toconduct a meeting or communication session with fewer participants thanin the main meeting. Users participating in a breakout session may viewand communicate with only the other users in the same breakout session.In this scenario, when a host or cohost of the online meeting requeststo create breakout sessions, it may be natural and desirable to considerparticipants in the same room as a group and, therefore, to create fourbreakout sessions with one session for each room.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, a first breakout session may include theparticipants from VC Room SJ1 (Alex, Bob, and Charlie), a secondbreakout session may include the participants from VC Room LN1 (David,Evan, Frank, and Garry), a third breakout session may include theparticipants from Room LN2 (Henry, Ivan, Jack, and Kathy), and a fourthbreakout session may include the participants from Room SH1 (Larry,Mike, Nick, and Oliver). The assignment of participants in each breakoutsession may be based on device affiliation detection. The deviceaffiliation detection may be based on users joining the meeting byconnecting to or being associated with a videoconference endpoint in theroom or based on users joining the meeting without connecting to avideoconference endpoint 140, but using other techniques for deviceaffiliation detection described below.

In the example shown in environment 150-2 in FIG. 2, David, Evan, Frank,and Garry join the meeting from VC Room LN1 in London by connecting toor associating with videoconference endpoint 140-2. While the users areparticipating in the meeting using their user devices, each meetingclient of the user devices reports to meeting server(s) 110 “I'mconnected to the videoconference endpoint device with device number12345 in VC Room LN1 in the London site.” When the main meeting host orcohost creates breakout sessions, the meeting client of the host orcohost's user device may suggest that David, Evan, Frank, and Garry bein the same breakout or child session based on determining that David,Evan, Frank, and Garry are connected to the same videoconferenceendpoint and are, therefore, at the same location. A videoconferenceendpoint room icon may be displayed in the breakout session userinterface to indicate the device affiliation.

A breakout room assignment suggestion may be presented to the host orcohost, as set forth below:

Participants from an endpoint room Suggested child session London siteChild session (VC Room LN1, London)  VC Room LN1  David   David  Evan  Evan  Frank   Frank  Garry   Garry

There is a heartbeat detection for each participant in the room with aperiodic interval (e.g. every 5 seconds). Once a participant leaves theroom and the participant's user device can no longer detect thevideoconference endpoint in that room, the participant will beeliminated from the group.

In the example illustrated in environment 150-3 of FIG. 2, participantsHenry, Ivan, Jack, and Kathy join the meeting from Room LN2 in London.When the participants join the meeting, no videoconference endpoint canbe detected by the meeting clients on the user devices because there isno videoconference endpoint in environment 150-3 to emit a signal.

In this case, the first meeting client in the room (e.g. Henry's userdevice 120-1), may take the role of a delegate device with a virtualdevice number (e.g., 23456) and a virtual room name (e.g., Room1) andwill emit a signal (e.g. by ultrasound, Bluetooth, etc.) containingmeeting information associated with the online meeting (e.g., a meetingnumber, etc.). When other participants in the room join the meeting,their user devices can detect and connect to the delegate device andreport to the meeting server: “I'm connected to the videoconferencedevice with device number 23456 in Room1.” When the main meeting host orcohost creates breakout sessions, the host or cohost's meeting clientmay suggest that Henry, Ivan, Jack, and Kathy be in the same child orbreakout session based on determining that Henry, Ivan, Jack, and Kathyare located in the same room. The virtual device number and the virtualroom name may be assigned by meeting server(s) 110. The virtual roomname indicates that the participants of this session are physicallylocated in the same room. A room icon may be displayed in the breakoutsession user interface to indicate the physical proximity.

A breakout room assignment suggestion may be presented to the host orcohost, as set forth below:

Participants from a non-VC endpoint room Suggested child session Londonsite Child session 3 (Room1)  Room LN2  Henry   Henry  Ivan   Ivan  Jack  Jack  Kathy   Kathy

Polling may be performed to determine a new delegate device when aprevious delegate device leaves the room or is no longer connected tothe meeting for another reason. The polling for a new delegate device isdone in a self-organized way. When a new delegate device is needed, theuser devices of all the participants in a nearby physical location arecandidates to become the new delegate device. When the delegate deviceis no longer emitting a signal, each user device determines whether anew signal can be detected. If a new signal is detected, the user devicerecognizes the delegate device information from the signal, connects tothe delegate device, and reports to the meeting server(s) 110 about theaffiliation. If the signal is not detected, the user device waits for aperiod of time (e.g. 235 milliseconds), and determines whether thesignal can be detected. If no signal is detected, a user device emitsits own signal claiming “I'm the new delegate device with device number23456.” The user devices detecting the signal will connect to the newdelegate device. Thus, the first user device that makes the claim thatit is the new delegate device is promoted to be the new delegate deviceand a self-organized affiliation relationship is established.

In some situations, breakout or child sessions may be determined whenonly some of the user devices in a room are connected to thevideoconference endpoint 140 in the room. For example, assume that Davidand Evan in environment 150-2 of FIG. 2 join the meeting from VC RoomLN1 in London by connecting to videoconference endpoint 140-2, but Frankand Garry join the meeting in the same room without connecting tovideoconference endpoint 140-2. In this case, the user devices of Davidand Evan will report to meeting server(s) 110: “I'm connected to thevideoconference endpoint with device number 12345 in VC Room LN1 in theLondon site.” Although the user devices of Frank and Garry have notconnected to the videoconference endpoint 140-2 in environment 150-2,the user devices can detect endpoint device 140-2 in the room, so theuser devices of Frank and Garry will report to meeting server(s) 110:“I'm close to the videoconference endpoint with device number 12345 inEndpoint Room LN1 in the London site.” When the main meeting host orcohost creates breakout or child sessions, the meeting client on thehost or cohost's user device may suggest that David, Evan, Frank, andGarry be in the same breakout session based on determining that David,Evan, Frank, and Garry are all in the same location.

A breakout room assignment suggestion may be presented to the host orcohost, as set forth below:

Participants from a partial-affiliated TP room Suggested child sessionLondon site Child session (Endpoint Room  Endpoint Room LN1 LN1, London)  David (connected to  David   videoconference device)  Evan   Evan(connected to  Frank   videoconference endpoint)  Garry   Frank (notconnected to   videoconference endpoint)   Garry (not connected to  videoconference endpoint)

Reference in now made to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting a method300 for performing polling to determine a delegate device, according toan example embodiment. The method 300 may be performed by one of theuser devices 120-1 to 120-N.

As shown in FIG. 3, initially, no users are present in environment150-3. As illustrated at 310, users Henry, Ivan, Jack, and Kathy enterthe room (Room LN2). When the participants join the meeting, novideoconference endpoint can be detected by the meeting clients on theuser devices because there is no videoconference endpoint in environment150-3 to emit any signal. In this case, as shown at 320, the firstmeeting client in Room LN2, e.g. Henry's user device 120-1, takes therole of a delegate device. Henry's user device 120-1 emits a signal(radio frequency (RF) wireless signal, ultrasound signal, etc.) withinformation associated with the online meeting. The user devicesassociated with the other participants (i.e., Ivan, Jack, and Kathy)will connect to Henry's user device 120-1 and report their location andthe identifier associated with Henry's user device 120-1 to meetingserver(s) 110 when those user devices join the meeting.

Continuing with FIG. 3, as shown at 330, Henry may leave the room andpolling may be performed to determine which user device will become thenew delegate device. There is a heartbeat detection for each participantin the room to ensure that the users have not left the room. If thecurrent participant associated with the delegate device (e.g., Henry)leaves the room, a polling process may be performed among the remainingparticipants in the room (e.g., Ivan, Jack, and Kathy) to determinewhich user device will be the new delegate device. Once the currentdelegate device of Henry has not been detected for a period of time(e.g., 5 seconds), the participants in the room will wait for a periodof time (e.g. 235 milliseconds), and then determine whether a newdelegate device is detected. If a new delegate device has not beendetected after the period of time has expired, a user device of anotherparticipant in the room (e.g., Ivan) may emit a signal claiming “I'm thenew delegate device with device number 23456.” When the user devices ofthe other participants in the room detect the signal, the user deviceswill connect to the new delegate device 120-3 and report to the meetingserver: “I'm connected to a new delegate device with number 23456 inRoom1.” After that, Ivan's user device 120-3 is the new delegate devicewith the same device number 23456 and same room name derived from theprevious delegate device 120-1 in Room LN2. The other user devices inthe room are affiliated with the new delegate device.

When a new user enters environment 150-3, the user device of the newuser may connect to the new delegate device 120-3. As shown at 340 inFIG. 3, Peter may enter the room, detect the signal emitted by Ivan'suser device 120-3, and connect to Ivan's user device 120-3. Peter mayadditionally report to the meeting server(s) 110: “I'm connected to adelegate device with number 23456 in Room1.” As shown by arrow 350, Ivanleaves the room and Jack's user device 120-4 is promoted to delegatedevice based on polling. For example, when Ivan leaves the room andIvan's delegate device 120-3 has not been detected for a period of time,the participants in the room (i.e., Peter, Jack, and Kathy) will waitfor a period of time and then determine whether a new delegate device isdetected. If a new delegate device has not been detected after theperiod of time has expired, a user device of another participant in theroom (e.g., Jack) will emit a signal claiming “I'm the new delegatedevice with device number 23456.” The user devices of Peter and Kathywill connect to the new delegate device (i.e., Jack's user device 120-4)and report to the meeting server(s) 110: “I'm connected to a newdelegate device with number 23456 in Room1.”

As shown at 360, Rachel may enter the room and Rachel's user device mayconnect to Jack's delegate device 120-4 and report to meeting server(s)110 “I'm connected to a delegate device with number 23456 in Room1.”After a period of time, as shown at 370, Jack may leave the room andKathy's user device 120-5 may be promoted to delegate device in a mannersimilar to the manner described above. In addition, Sarah may enter theroom, connect to Kathy's delegate device 120-5 and report to meetingserver(s) 110 “I'm connected to a delegate device with number 23456 inRoom1.”

Reference in now made to FIG. 4, with continued reference to FIGS. 1-3.FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting a method 400 for determining locations ofuser devices based on background noise characteristics, according to anexample embodiment. The method 400 may be performed by one of the userdevices 120-1 to 120-N and/or meeting server(s) 110 of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, users in environments 150-1 to 150-3 areparticipating in an online meeting. In this scenario, environments 150-1to 150-3 are rooms without videoconference endpoints 140 and the userdevices in the room are unable to connect to a delegate device. Forexample, if audio broadcast is turned off for each participant's userdevice, device affiliation will not work and locations of users can bedetermined in a different manner.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, each user device in a room captures rawenvironment audio, extracts environment noise characteristics, andtransmits the characteristics information and a timestamp indicatingwhen the audio was captured to meeting server(s) 110 on a periodicbasis. For example, in environment 150-1, Alex's user device maytransmit signal 402-1 to meeting server(s) 110, Bob's user device maytransmit signal 402-2 to meeting server(s) 110, and Charlie's userdevice may transmit signal 402-3 to meeting server(s) 110 indicating theenvironment noise characteristics in Room 1. Similarly, the user devicesin environment 150-2 may transmit signals 404-1, 404-2, 404-3 and 404-4to meeting server(s) 110 indicating the environment noisecharacteristics in Ro©m 2 and the user devices in environment 150-3 maytransmit signals 406-1, 406-2 and 406-3 to meeting server(s) 110indicating the environment noise characteristics in Room 3.

By comparing the environment noise characteristics detected by eachparticipant and the timestamps when the environment audio was captured,the meeting server(s) 110 is able to determine which participants arelocated in the same location and participants in the same location canbe assigned to the same breakout session. For example, meeting server(s)110 may determine that signals 402-1 to 402-3 that were received at aparticular time include the same or similar noise characteristics and,therefore, the user devices that transmitted signals 402-1 to 402-3 arein the same location.

The environment noise characteristics extraction can be done by either ameeting client on a user device or by meeting server(s) 110. Inaddition, there are several options for the timing for environment noisecharacteristics extraction. In one implementation, the environment noisecharacteristics may be extracted periodically (e.g., every 5 seconds).In another implementation, the environment noise characteristics may beextracted on demand when a breakout session is initiated by the meetinghost or cohost.

Background noise characteristics can be used to determine location evenif some participants in a room have muted their user devices. Forexample, participants in the same meeting room or environment may turnon audio input/output for only one user device in the room and disableaudio input/output for the other user devices in the room. Turning onaudio input/output for a single user in a room may provide for a betteraudio user experience by, for example, eliminating echo in the room. Themuted user devices will still capture audio input silently and transmitthe audio characteristics to meeting server(s) 110. For example, forenvironment 150-1 shown in FIG. 3, assume that Alex is unmated and Boband Charlie are muted. Although the user devices of Bob and Charlie aremuted, all user devices of Alex, Bob, and Charlie will captureenvironment noise and extract noise characteristics. Even if Bob's andCharlie's user devices are muted, the user devices will capture audioinput silently and transmit the audio to meeting server(s) 110. SinceBob and Charlie have muted their user devices, meeting server(s) HO willrecognize only the environment noise characteristics from the audioreceived from Bob's and Charlie's user devices. Meeting server(s) 110will not mix audio from Bob and Charlie or broadcast Bob's and Charlie'saudio in the meeting.

In another similar scenario, participants in the same meeting room maynot participate in the meeting using audio from their user devices andmay instead dial into the meeting using an Internet Protocol (IP) phonein the room. In this scenario, all user devices of the users (e.g.,Alex, Bob, and Charlie) in the environment 150-1, for example, willcapture environment noise silently, extract characteristics, andtransmit the characteristics to meeting server(s) 110 for automatically,determining the session assignment for breakout rooms. The audioreceived from Alex, Bob, and Charlie's user devices will not be mixed orbroadcast in the meeting.

In the examples discussed above, meeting server(s) 110 may be able todetermine location-based breakout room assignments for users withoutrelying on device affiliation detection.

Referring now to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting a method 500 fordetermining locations of user devices based on short-range wirelesscommunication identifiers, according to an example embodiment. Themethod 500 may be performed by one of the user devices 120-1 to 120-Nand/or meeting server(s) 110 of FIG. 1.

As is illustrated in FIG. 5, short-range wireless communication (e.g.,Bluetooth) identifiers can be discovered by nearby user devices. FIG. 5illustrates an example in which Bluetooth identifiers are discovered byneighboring user devices, but any short-range wireless communicationidentifiers can be used in a similar manner. In the example shown inFIG. 5, each meeting participant can associate his or her identity inthe meeting with his or her unique Bluetooth identifier and report theassociation to the meeting server(s) 110. Each participant may transmitinformation indicating nearby Bluetooth identifiers that have beendiscovered by each participant. The Bluetooth identifiers of nearby userdevices can be retrieved regularly or on-demand when a breakout sessionis initiated by the meeting host. In this way, the meeting server(s) 110is able to know which participants are mutually discovered via Bluetoothand the nearby participants can be assigned to the same sessionautomatically.

For example, in environment 150-1, Alex's identity is associated withBluetooth identifier 001, Bob's identity is associated with Bluetoothidentifier 002, and Charlie's identity is associated with Bluetoothidentifier 003. Alex's user device may transmit signal 502-1 to meetingserver(s) 110 indicating that Alex's user device has discoveredBluetooth identifiers 002 and 003. Similarly, Bob's user device maytransmit signal 502-2 to meeting server(s) 110 indicating that Bob'suser device has discovered nearby Bluetooth identifiers 001 and 003 andCharlie's user device may transmit signal 502-3 to meeting server(s) 110indicating that Charlie's user device has discovered nearby Bluetoothidentifiers 001 and 002. Based on receiving the detected Bluetoothidentifiers, meeting server(s) 110 can determine which participants arein the same location and may determine location-based breakout sessions.

Using the same method, in environment 150-2, David's user device (with aBluetooth identifier of 004) may transmit message 504-1 to meetingserver(s) 110 indicating that Bluetooth identifiers 005, 006, and 007have been detected, Evan's user device (with a Bluetooth identifier of005) may transmit message 504-2 to meeting server(s) 110 indicating thatBluetooth identifier 004, 006, and 007 have been detected, Frank's userdevice (with a Bluetooth identifier of 006) may transmit message 504-3to meeting server(s) 110 indicating that Bluetooth identifiers 004, 005,and 007 have been detected, and Garry's user device (with a Bluetoothidentifier of 007) may transmit message 504-4 to meeting server(s) 110indicating that Bluetooth identifiers 004, 005, and 006 have beendetected. Meeting server(s) 110 may receive messages 504-1 to 504-4 anddetermine that David, Evan, Frank, and Garry are in the same room andshould be placed in the same breakout session.

In environment 150-3, Ivan's user device (with a Bluetooth identifier of008) may transmit a message to meeting server(s) 110 indicating thatBluetooth identifiers 009 and 010 have been detected, Jack's user device(with a Bluetooth identifier of 009) may transmit a message to meetingserver(s) indicating that Bluetooth identifier 008 and 010 have beendetected, and Kathy's user device (with a Bluetooth identifier of 010)may transmit message 506-3 to meeting server(s) indicating thatBluetooth identifiers 008 and 009 have been discovered. Meetingserver(s) 110 may determine based on messages 506-1, 506-2 and 506-3that Ivan, Jack, and Kathy are in the same room and should be placed inthe same breakout session.

In addition to determining locations of meeting participants byreceiving nearby Bluetooth identifiers, meeting server(s) 110 maydetermine locations of meeting participants in additional ways. Forexample, when the meeting host initiates breakout sessions, the meetingserver(s) 110 may query each meeting participant for his or hergeo-location. Most wireless user devices (e.g., Smartphones and tablets)have geo-location capability that may be used by the meeting server(s)110 for the purposes described herein. Based on receiving responses fromthe participants, the meeting server(s) 110 may calculate which groupsof participants are physically located in the same area.

For example, the responses from the participants may indicate that Alex,Bob, and Cindy are each in a small area of 25 square meters while David,Evan, and Frank are each in a small area of about 30 square meters thatis a larger distance (e.g., 20 meters. 10 kilometers, etc.) away fromthe first group of Alex, Bob, and Cindy. Therefore, the meetingserver(s) 110 may determine that Alex, Bob and Cindy are in a firstlocation and are assigned to breakout session 1, and David, Evan andFrank are in a second location and are assigned to breakout session 2automatically. The assignment can be done by leveraging variouslocation-based algorithms.

Location-based breakout room assignments may also be determined usingfacial and voiceprint recognition. For example, a meeting device (e.g.,a user device, a videoconference endpoint, or another device) maycapture an image of participants in its field of view and may determinean identity associated with each participant using facial recognitiontechniques. The participants recognized in the field of view may beautomatically assigned to the same breakout session. In addition,voiceprint recognition may be leveraged to recognize participantsoutside of the device's field of view. For example, a participant notcaptured in the image or who cannot be recognized using facialrecognition may be identified based on a voiceprint associated with theparticipant. A list of meeting participants may be used as a referencefor the facial and/or voiceprint recognition.

Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 600of automatically determining groups of user devices for breakoutsessions in an online meeting based on the locations of the userdevices. The method 600 may be implemented by a computing device such asone of the user devices 120-1 to 120-N of FIG. 1, a videoconferenceendpoint 140 of FIG. 1, and/or the meeting server(s) 110 of FIG. 1. Forexample, one of the meeting server(s) 110 may implement the method 600based on information received from one of the user devices 120-1 to120-N or from a videoconference endpoint 140.

At 602, the method 600 involves connecting user devices 120-1 to 120-Nto an online meeting or communication session. For example, meetingserver(s) 110 may facilitate an online meeting or communication sessionamong user devices 120-1 to 120-N in different geographical locationsover network(s) 130 using audio and/or video. User devices 120-1 to120-N may display information associated with other user devices 120-1to 120-N participating in the online meeting and users may be able tocommunicate with the users of other user devices 120-1 to 120-N all atthe same time or individually.

At 604, the method 600 involves determining locations associated withthe user devices participating in the online meeting. Meeting server(s)110 may determine the locations in a number of ways. For example,meeting server(s) 110 may determine the locations based on avideoconference endpoint or a user device to which user devices in aroom are connected/associated. Meeting server(s) 110 may additionallydetermine the locations based on background noise characteristics in aroom in which users are participating in the online meeting. Meetingserver(s) 110 may determine the locations based on Bluetooth identitiesassociated with user devices participating in the online meeting.Meeting server(s) 110 may determine the locations based on geo-locationsprovided by users participating in the online meeting. Meeting server(s)110 may determine the locations based on facial and/or voiceprintrecognition techniques associated with users participating in the onlinemeeting.

At 606, the method 600 involves receiving a request to form groups ofuser devices for breakout sessions. A meeting host or cohost may send arequest to meeting server(s) 110 to automatically form groups of theparticipants for conducting smaller meetings or breakout/child sessions.The request may include a request to form the groups based on locationsof the user devices 120-1 to 120-N. For example, the request mayindicate that a subset of user devices 120-1 to 120-N in the same room,in a common location, or within a particular distance of each othershould be placed in the same group or breakout session. Alternatively,meeting server(s) 110 may automatically determine that the groups forthe breakout session should be location-based. In one implementation,meeting server(s) 110 may suggest location-based breakout sessions andthe meeting host or cohost can accept the suggestion based on, forexample, selecting an option on a user device.

At 608, the method 600 involves assigning user devices 120-1 to 120-N togroups based on common locations of the user devices. For example,meeting server(s) 110 may assign user devices to a group of user devicesbased on those user devices being connected/associated to the samevideoconference endpoint or the same user device in a room orenvironment. Meeting server(s) 110 may assign user devices to a groupbased on determining that user devices in the group are in the sameenvironment (at a common location) based on background noisecharacteristics. Meeting server(s) 110 may assign user devices to agroup based on determining that user devices are in the same locationbased on Bluetooth identifiers associated with the user devices. Meetingserver(s) 110 may assign user devices to a group based on receivinggeo-location information from users participating in the meeting andgrouping the users that are in a similar location. Meeting server(s) 110may assign user devices to a group based on facial recognition and/orvoiceprint associated with users in a field of view or voices within adistance of a microphone of a user device or of a videoconferenceendpoint. Regardless of the particular technique to determine respectivelocations of the user devices, step 608 involves assigning user devicesto respective ones of the plurality of groups based on the respectivelocations such that user devices at a common location are assigned to asame group.

At 610, the method 600 involves transmitting information associated withthe groups to the meeting host or cohost. For example, meeting server(s)110 may transmit a list of groups of users or user devices to themeeting host or cohost. The meeting host or cohost may determine toautomatically form breakout sessions using the location-based groupssuggested by meeting server(s) 110 (e.g., by selecting an optionaccepting the proposed groups). Users participating in the meeting maybe broken into smaller online meetings or breakout or child sessionsbased on the groups. Users can view information associated with andinteract with other users in the breakout or child session after thegroups have been formed. Users in one breakout session or child sessionmay not be able to view or interact with users in other breakoutsessions or child sessions.

Referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 illustrates a hardware block diagram of acomputing/computer device 700 that may perform functions of a userdevice associated with operations discussed herein in connection withthe techniques depicted in FIGS. 1-6. In various embodiments, acomputing device, such as computing device 700 or any combination ofcomputing devices 700, may be configured as any devices as discussed forthe techniques depicted in connection with FIGS. 1-6 in order to performoperations of the various techniques discussed herein.

In at least one embodiment, the computing device 700 may include one ormore processor(s) 702, one or more memory element(s) 704, storage 706, abus 708, one or more network processor unit(s) 710 interconnected withone or more network input/output (I/O) interface(s) 712, one or more I/Ointerface(s) 714, and control logic 720. In various embodiments,instructions associated with logic for computing device 700 can overlapin any manner and are not limited to the specific allocation ofinstructions and/or operations described herein.

In at least one embodiment, processor(s) 702 is/are at least onehardware processor configured to execute various tasks, operationsand/or functions for computing device 700 as described herein accordingto software and/or instructions configured for computing device 700.Processor(s) 702 (e.g., a hardware processor) can execute any type ofinstructions associated with data to achieve the operations detailedherein. In one example, processor(s) 702 can transform an element or anarticle (e.g., data, information) from one state or thing to anotherstate or thing. Any of potential processing elements, microprocessors,digital signal processor, baseband signal processor, modem, PHY,controllers, systems, managers, logic, and/or machines described hereincan be construed as being encompassed within the broad term ‘processor’.

In at least one embodiment, memory element(s) 704 and/or storage 706is/are configured to store data, information, software, and/orinstructions associated with computing device 700, and/or logicconfigured for memory element(s) 704 and/or storage 706. For example,any logic described herein (e.g., control logic 720) can, in variousembodiments, be stored for computing device 700 using any combination ofmemory element(s) 704 and/or storage 706. Note that in some embodiments,storage 706 can be consolidated with memory element(s) 704 (or viceversa), or can overlap/exist in any other suitable manner.

In at least one embodiment, bus 708 can be configured as an interfacethat enables one or more elements of computing device 700 to communicatein order to exchange information and/or data. Bus 708 can be implementedwith any architecture designed for passing control, data and/orinformation between processors, memory elements/storage, peripheraldevices, and/or any other hardware and/or software components that maybe configured for computing device 700. In at least one embodiment, bus708 may be implemented as a fast kernel-hosted interconnect, potentiallyusing shared memory between processes (e.g., logic), which can enableefficient communication paths between the processes.

In various embodiments, network processor unit(s) 710 may enablecommunication between computing device 700 and other systems, entities,etc., via network I/O interface(s) 712 (wired and/or wireless) tofacilitate operations discussed for various embodiments describedherein. Examples of wireless communication capabilities includeshort-range wireless communication (e.g., Bluetooth), wide area wirelesscommunication (e.g., 4G, 5G, etc.). In various embodiments, networkprocessor unit(s) 710 can be configured as a combination of hardwareand/or software, such as one or more Ethernet driver(s) and/orcontroller(s) or interface cards, Fibre Channel (e.g., optical)driver(s) and/or controller(s), wirelessreceivers/transmitters/transceivers, baseband processor(s)/modem(s),and/or other similar network interface driver(s) and/or controller(s)now known or hereafter developed to enable communications betweencomputing device 700 and other systems, entities, etc. to facilitateoperations for various embodiments described herein. In variousembodiments, network I/O interface(s) 712 can be configured as one ormore Ethernet port(s), Fibre Channel ports, any other I/O port(s),and/or antenna(s)/antenna array(s) now known or hereafter developed.Thus, the network processor unit(s) 710 and/or network I/O interface(s)712 may include suitable interfaces for receiving, transmitting, and/orotherwise communicating data and/or information in a networkenvironment.

I/O interface(s) 714 allow for input and output of data and/orinformation with other entities that may be connected to computer device700. For example, I/O interface(s) 714 may provide a connection toexternal devices such as a keyboard 725, keypad, a touch screen, and/orany other suitable input and/or output device now known or hereafterdeveloped. This may be the case, in particular, when the computer device700 serves as a user device described herein. In some instances,external devices can also include portable computer readable(non-transitory) storage media such as database systems, thumb drives,portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. In still someinstances, external devices can be a mechanism to display data to auser, such as, for example, a computer monitor, a display screen, suchas display 730 shown in FIG. 7, particularly when the computer device700 serves as a user device as described herein. Display 730 may havetouch-screen display capabilities. Additional external devices mayinclude a video camera 735 and microphone/speaker combination 740. Inaddition, the computing device 700 may further include an ultrasoundtransceiver 745 that may be used for the various purposes describedherein.

In various embodiments, control logic 720 can include instructions that,when executed, cause processor(s) 702 to perform operations, which caninclude, but not be limited to, providing overall control operations ofcomputing device; interacting with other entities, systems, etc.described herein; maintaining and/or interacting with stored data,information, parameters, etc. (e.g., memory element(s), storage, datastructures, databases, tables, etc.); combinations thereof; and/or thelike to facilitate various operations for embodiments described herein.

The programs described herein (e.g., control logic 720) may beidentified based upon application(s) for which they are implemented in aspecific embodiment. However, it should be appreciated that anyparticular program nomenclature herein is used merely for convenience;thus, embodiments herein should not be limited to use(s) solelydescribed in any specific application(s) identified and/or implied bysuch nomenclature.

In various embodiments, entities as described herein may storedata/information in any suitable volatile and/or non-volatile memoryitem (e.g., magnetic hard disk drive, solid state hard drive,semiconductor storage device, random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM),application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.), software, logic(fixed logic, hardware logic, programmable logic, analog logic, digitallogic), hardware, and/or in any other suitable component, device,element, and/or object as may be appropriate. Any of the memory itemsdiscussed herein should be construed as being encompassed within thebroad term ‘memory element’. Data/information being tracked and/or sentto one or more entities as discussed herein could be provided in anydatabase, table, register, list, cache, storage, and/or storagestructure: all of which can be referenced at any suitable timeframe. Anysuch storage options may also be included within the broad term ‘memoryelement’ as used herein.

Note that in certain example implementations, operations as set forthherein may be implemented by logic encoded in one or more tangible mediathat is capable of storing instructions and/or digital information andmay be inclusive of non-transitory tangible media and/or non-transitorycomputer readable storage media (e.g., embedded logic provided in: anASIC, digital signal processing (DSP) instructions, software[potentially inclusive of object code and source code], etc.) forexecution by one or more processor(s), and/or other similar machine,etc. Generally, memory element(s) 704 and/or storage 706 can store data,software, code, instructions (e.g., processor instructions), logic,parameters, combinations thereof, and/or the like used for operationsdescribed herein. This includes memory element(s) 704 and/or storage 706being able to store data, software, code, instructions (e.g., processorinstructions), logic, parameters, combinations thereof, or the like thatare executed to carry out operations in accordance with teachings of thepresent disclosure.

In some instances, software of the present embodiments may be availablevia a non-transitory computer useable medium (e.g., magnetic or opticalmediums, magneto-optic mediums, CD-ROM, DVD, memory devices, etc.) of astationary or portable program product apparatus, downloadable file(s),file wrapper(s), object(s), package(s), container(s), and/or the like.In some instances, non-transitory computer readable storage media mayalso be removable. For example, a removable hard drive may be used formemory/storage in some implementations. Other examples may includeoptical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, and smart cards that can beinserted and/or otherwise connected to a computing device for transferonto another computer readable storage medium.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device 800 that mayperform the functions of the meeting server(s) 110 described herein. Thecomputing device 800 may include one or more processor(s) 802, one ormore memory element(s) 804, storage 806, a bus 808, one or more networkprocessor unit(s) 810 interconnected with one or more networkinput/output (I/O) interface(s) 812, one or more I/O interface(s) 814,and meeting server logic 820. In various embodiments, instructionsassociated with the meeting server logic 820 is configured to performthe meeting server operations described herein, including those depictedby the flow chart for method 600 shown in FIG. 6.

In one form, a method is provided comprising connecting a plurality ofuser devices to a communication session in which a plurality ofparticipants of the respective plurality of user devices communicateusing audio and/or video; determining respective locations of theplurality of user devices; receiving, from a particular user device ofthe plurality of user devices, a request to group the user devices intoa plurality of groups to form one or more breakout communicationsessions off of the communication session; assigning user devices torespective ones of the plurality of groups based on the respectivelocations such that user devices at a common location are assigned to asame group; and transmitting information identifying the plurality ofgroups to the particular user device.

In one example, the method may include receiving information associatedwith a conference endpoint to which one or more user devices, of theplurality of user devices, is associated. In another example, the methodmay include receiving information associated with a first user device,of the plurality of user devices, to which one or more other userdevices, of the plurality of user devices, is associated. In anotherexample, the first user device emits a signal that includes informationassociated with the communication session and the one or more other userdevices connects to the first user device in response to detecting thesignal.

In another example, the method may include receiving an indication thatthe first user device has disconnected from the communication sessionand receiving information associated with a second user device, of theplurality of user devices, to which the one or more other user devicesis associated. In another example, the second user device emits a signalwhen the first user device has disconnected from the communicationsession and the one or more other user devices connects to the seconduser device in response to detecting the signal. In another example, themethod may include receiving environment noise characteristicsassociated with one or more user devices of the plurality of userdevices. In another example, the method may include receiving one ormore of short-range wireless communication information, geo-locationinformation, facial recognition information, or voiceprint informationassociated with one or more user devices of the plurality of userdevices.

In another form, an apparatus is provided comprising a memory; a networkinterface configured to enable network communications; and a processor,wherein the processor is configured to perform operations comprising:connecting a plurality of user devices to a communication session inwhich a plurality of participants of the respective plurality of userdevices communicate using audio and/or video; determining respectivelocations of the plurality of user devices; receiving, from a particularuser device of the plurality of user devices, a request to group theuser devices into a plurality of groups to form one or more breakoutcommunication sessions off of the communication session; assigning userdevices to respective ones of the plurality of groups based on therespective locations such that user devices at a common location areassigned to a same group; and transmitting information identifying theplurality of groups to the particular user device.

In still another form, one or more non-transitory computer readablestorage media encoded with instructions are provided that, when executedby a processor, cause the processor to execute a method comprising:connecting a plurality of user devices to a communication session inwhich a plurality of participants of the respective plurality of userdevices communicate using audio and/or video; determining respectivelocations of the plurality of user devices; receiving, from a particularuser device of the plurality of user devices, a request to group theuser devices into a plurality of groups to form one or more breakoutcommunication sessions off of the communication session; assigning userdevices to respective ones of the plurality of groups based on therespective locations such that user devices at a common location areassigned to a same group; and transmitting information identifying theplurality of groups to the particular user device.

Variations and Implementations

Embodiments described herein may include one or more networks, which canrepresent a series of points and/or network elements of interconnectedcommunication paths for receiving and/or transmitting messages (e.g.,packets of information) that propagate through the one or more networks.These network elements offer communicative interfaces that facilitatecommunications between the network elements. A network can include anynumber of hardware and/or software elements coupled to (and incommunication with) each other through a communication medium. Suchnetworks can include, but are not limited to, any local area network(LAN), virtual LAN (VLAN), wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet),software defined WAN (SD-WAN), wireless local area (WLA) access network,wireless wide area (WWA) access network, metropolitan area network(MAN), Intranet, Extranet, virtual private network (VPN), Low PowerNetwork (LPN), Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), Machine to Machine(M2M) network, Internet of Things (IoT) network, Ethernetnetwork/switching system, any other appropriate architecture and/orsystem that facilitates communications in a network environment, and/orany suitable combination thereof.

Networks through which communications propagate can use any suitabletechnologies for communications including wireless communications (e.g.,4G/5G/nG, IEEE 802.11 (e.g., Wi-Fi®/Wi-Fi6®), IEEE 802.16 (e.g.,Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)),Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Near Field Communication (NFC),Bluetooth™ mm.wave, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), etc.), and/or wiredcommunications (e.g., T1 lines, T3 lines, digital subscriber lines(DSL), Ethernet, Fibre Channel, etc.). Generally, any suitable means ofcommunications may be used such as electric, sound, light, infrared,and/or radio to facilitate communications through one or more networksin accordance with embodiments herein. Communications, interactions,operations, etc. as discussed for various embodiments described hereinmay be performed among entities that may directly or indirectlyconnected utilizing any algorithms, communication protocols, interfaces,etc. (proprietary and/or non-proprietary) that allow for the exchange ofdata and/or information.

Communications in a network environment can be referred to herein as‘messages’, ‘messaging’, ‘signaling’, ‘data’, ‘content’, ‘objects’,‘requests’, ‘queries’, ‘responses’, ‘replies’, etc. which may beinclusive of packets. As referred to herein and in the claims, the term‘packet’ may be used in a generic sense to include packets, frames,segments, datagrams, and/or any other generic units that may be used totransmit communications in a network environment. Generally, a packet isa formatted unit of data that can contain control or routing information(e.g., source and destination address, source and destination port,etc.) and data, which is also sometimes referred to as a ‘payload’,‘data payload’, and variations thereof. In some embodiments, control orrouting information, management information, or the like can be includedin packet fields, such as within header(s) and/or trailer(s) of packets.Internet Protocol (IP) addresses discussed herein and in the claims caninclude any IP version 4 (IPv4) and/or IP version 6 (IPv6) addresses.

To the extent that embodiments presented herein relate to the storage ofdata, the embodiments may employ any number of any conventional or otherdatabases, data stores or storage structures (e.g., files, databases,data structures, data or other repositories, etc.) to store information.

Note that in this Specification, references to various features (e.g.,elements, structures, nodes, modules, components, engines, logic, steps,operations, functions, characteristics, etc.) included in ‘oneembodiment’, ‘example embodiment’, ‘an embodiment’, ‘anotherembodiment’, ‘certain embodiments’, ‘some embodiments’, ‘variousembodiments’, ‘other embodiments’, ‘alternative embodiment’, and thelike are intended to mean that any such features are included in one ormore embodiments of the present disclosure, but may or may notnecessarily be combined in the same embodiments. Note also that amodule, engine, client, controller, function, logic or the like as usedherein in this Specification, can be inclusive of an executable filecomprising instructions that can be understood and processed on aserver, computer, processor, machine, compute node, combinationsthereof, or the like and may further include library modules loadedduring execution, object files, system files, hardware logic, softwarelogic, or any other executable modules.

It is also noted that the operations and steps described with referenceto the preceding figures illustrate only some of the possible scenariosthat may be executed by one or more entities discussed herein. Some ofthese operations may be deleted or removed where appropriate, or thesesteps may be modified or changed considerably without departing from thescope of the presented concepts. In addition, the timing and sequence ofthese operations may be altered considerably and still achieve theresults taught in this disclosure. The preceding operational flows havebeen offered for purposes of example and discussion. Substantialflexibility is provided by the embodiments in that any suitablearrangements, chronologies, configurations, and timing mechanisms may beprovided without departing from the teachings of the discussed concepts.

As used herein, unless expressly stated to the contrary, use of thephrase at least one of, ‘one or more of’, ‘and/or’, variations thereof,or the like are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive anddisjunctive in operation for any and all possible combination of theassociated listed items. For example, each of the expressions ‘at leastone of X, Y and Z’, ‘at least one of X, Y or Z’, ‘one or more of X, Yand Z’, ‘one or more of X, Y or Z’ and ‘X, Y and/or Z’ can mean any ofthe following: 1) X, but not Y and not Z; 2) Y, but not X and not Z; 3)Z, but not X and not Y; 4) X and Y, but not Z; 5) X and Z, but not Y; 6)Y and Z, but not X; or 7) X, Y, and Z.

Additionally, unless expressly stated to the contrary, the terms‘first’, ‘second’, ‘third’, etc., are intended to distinguish theparticular nouns they modify (e.g., element, condition, node, module,activity, operation, etc.). Unless expressly stated to the contrary, theuse of these terms is not intended to indicate any type of order, rank,importance, temporal sequence, or hierarchy of the modified noun. Forexample, ‘first X’ and ‘second X’ are intended to designate two ‘X’elements that are not necessarily limited by any order, rank,importance, temporal sequence, or hierarchy of the two elements. Furtheras referred to herein, ‘at least one of’ and ‘one or more of can berepresented using the’(s)′ nomenclature (e.g., one or more element(s)).

One or more advantages described herein are not meant to suggest thatany one of the embodiments described herein necessarily provides all ofthe described advantages or that all the embodiments of the presentdisclosure necessarily provide any one of the described advantages.Numerous other changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and/ormodifications may be ascertained to one skilled in the art and it isintended that the present disclosure encompass all such changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and/or modifications as fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:connecting a plurality of user devices to a communication session inwhich a plurality of participants of the respective plurality of userdevices communicate using audio and/or video; determining respectivelocations of the plurality of user devices; receiving, from a particularuser device of the plurality of user devices, a request to group theuser devices into a plurality of groups to form one or more breakoutcommunication sessions off of the communication session; assigning userdevices to respective ones of the plurality of groups based on therespective locations such that user devices at a common location areassigned to a same group; and transmitting information identifying theplurality of groups to the particular user device.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining thelocations includes receiving information associated with a conferenceendpoint to which one or more user devices, of the plurality of userdevices, is associated.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein determining the locations includes receiving informationassociated with a first user device, of the plurality of user devices,to which one or more other user devices, of the plurality of userdevices, is associated.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3,wherein the first user device emits a signal that includes informationassociated with the communication session and wherein the one or moreother user devices connects to the first user device in response todetecting the signal.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3,further comprising: receiving an indication that the first user devicehas disconnected from the communication session; and receivinginformation associated with a second user device, of the plurality ofuser devices, to which the one or more other user devices is associated,wherein the second user device emits a signal when the first user devicehas disconnected from the communication session, and wherein the one ormore other user devices connects to the second user device in responseto detecting the signal.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein determining the locations includes receiving environment noisecharacteristics associated with one or more user devices of theplurality of user devices.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein determining the locations includes receiving one or more ofshort-range wireless communication information, geo-locationinformation, facial recognition information, or voiceprint informationassociated with one or more user devices of the plurality of userdevices.
 8. An apparatus comprising: a memory; a network interfaceconfigured to enable network communications; and a processor, whereinthe processor is configured to perform operations comprising: connectinga plurality of user devices to a communication session in which aplurality of participants of the respective plurality of user devicescommunicate using audio and/or video; determining respective locationsof the plurality of user devices; receiving, from a particular userdevice of the plurality of user devices, a request to group the userdevices into a plurality of groups to form one or more breakoutcommunication sessions off of the communication session; assigning userdevices to respective ones of the plurality of groups based on therespective locations such that user devices at a common location areassigned to a same group; and transmitting information identifying theplurality of groups to the particular user device.
 9. The apparatus ofclaim 8, wherein the processor is configured to perform the operation ofdetermining the locations by: receiving information associated with aconference endpoint to which one or more user devices, of the pluralityof user devices, is associated.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, whereinthe processor is configured to perform the operation of determining thelocations by: receiving information associated with a first user device,of the plurality of user devices, to which one or more other userdevices, of the plurality of user devices, is associated.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the first user device emits a signal thatincludes information associated with the communication session andwherein the one or more other user devices connects to the first userdevice in response to detecting the signal.
 12. The apparatus of claim10, wherein the processor is further configured to perform operationscomprising: receiving an indication that the first user device hasdisconnected from the communication session; and receiving informationassociated with a second user device, of the plurality of user devices,to which the one or more other user devices is associated, wherein thesecond user device emits a signal when the first user device hasdisconnected from the communication session, and wherein the one or moreother user devices connects to the second user device in response todetecting the signal.
 13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein theprocessor is configured to perform the operation of determining thelocations by: receiving environment noise characteristics associatedwith one or more user devices of the plurality of user devices.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to perform theoperation of determining the locations by: receiving one or more ofshort-range wireless communication information, geo-locationinformation, facial recognition information, or voiceprint informationassociated with one or more user devices of the plurality of userdevices.
 15. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage mediaencoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to execute a method comprising: connecting a plurality of userdevices to a communication session in which a plurality of participantsof the respective plurality of user devices communicate using audioand/or video; determining respective locations of the plurality of userdevices; receiving, from a particular user device of the plurality ofuser devices, a request to group the user devices into a plurality ofgroups to form one or more breakout communication sessions off of thecommunication session; assigning user devices to respective ones of theplurality of groups based on the respective locations such that userdevices at a common location are assigned to a same group; andtransmitting information identifying the plurality of groups to theparticular user device.
 16. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein determining thelocations includes: receiving information associated with a conferenceendpoint to which one or more user devices, of the plurality of userdevices, is associated.
 17. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein determining thelocations includes: receiving information associated with a first userdevice, of the plurality of user devices, to which one or more otheruser devices, of the plurality of user devices, is associated.
 18. Theone or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 17,wherein the first user device emits a signal that includes informationassociated with the communication session and wherein the one or moreother user devices connects to the first user device in response todetecting the signal.
 19. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the method furthercomprises: receiving an indication that the first user device hasdisconnected from the communication session; and receiving informationassociated with a second user device, of the plurality of user devices,to which the one or more user other devices is associated, wherein thesecond user device emits a signal when the first user device hasdisconnected from the communication session, and wherein the one or moreother user devices connects to the second user device in response todetecting the signal.
 20. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein determining thelocations includes: receiving one or more of environment noisecharacteristics, short-range wireless communication information,geo-location information, facial recognition information, or voiceprintinformation associated with one or more user devices of the plurality ofuser devices.